We get our fair share of tough questions from clients. As a judgment collection agency, one of the toughest questions for us to answer is this: what kind of time commitment am I looking at? Clients ask with hope that we can give them a ballpark figure based on the typical judgment case. The only problem is that there is nothing typical in the judgment collection industry.
Every case is genuinely different. There are so many factors that go into collection that they are hard to quantify in a way that would make sense to most judgment creditors. Each of those factors contributes to the time commitment in some way, shape, or form.
We have been involved in cases that were resolved in as little as a few months. We’ve also taken cases that creditors had been working on for years. There really is no average timetable we could offer. However, we can explain some of the things that influence collection time.
1. Legal Procedures
Right off the bat, you have legal procedures to think about. For example, here in Utah, money judgments are subject to an automatic 28-day stay unless the court issues a writ lifting that stay. This means judgment creditors must wait a minimum of 28 days from judgment entry before they can begin collection efforts.
Could a judgment debtor voluntarily pay the full amount within that 28-day window? Absolutely. But it doesn’t happen very often.
Other legal procedures add to the mix. For example, if a creditor wanted to file a motion to compel the debtor to appear in court for discovery purposes, that hearing would be set for some time in the future. Maybe it’s a month. Perhaps it’s two or three months.
Every motion filed with the court has a time commitment involved. Asking for a writ of garnishment requires waiting. Seeking a writ of execution against debtor property involves even more waiting.
2. Debtor Cooperation
The next thing to consider is the level of cooperation a debtor offers. We can use interrogatories as an example here. Interrogatories are written questions submitted to the debtor post-judgment. Answers to those questions will determine how the creditor proceeds.
Assume the debtor has 30 days to answer the questions. He could answer them in a day or two if he wanted to. But in most cases, debtors push the limit. They go right to the 30-day deadline. In some cases, they go beyond the deadline because the creditor does not insist on timely answers.
Believe it or not, some debtors purposely delay in hopes of creditors getting so frustrated they simply walk away and take their losses. We see it happening time and again.
3. Actual Collection Efforts
Once a creditor gets past legal procedures and a lack of cooperation, additional time is required to actually collect. Let’s say you are a creditor, and you choose to collect via garnishment. Garnishment is a good option in the sense that you have income and cash assets to work with. But it is also slow. Garnishment alone could take years to collect a sizable debt.
There are still more factors that go into the time commitment associated with collecting a judgment. We will not get into them. We assume you get the point. Here’s what we want you to know: you don’t have to do this on your own.
Collecting a judgment is easy in principle but difficult in practice. So many judgment creditors give up because it’s too hard. Don’t be one of them. If you have an outstanding judgment, contact Judgment Collectors today. We can help.